Here's a memory for you guys that were talking about playing in the desert. This photograph was taken last year by me Neighbour of our kids playing in the desert to the east of town, just as you get to the big dunes.... note the how the sand has covered the old telephone pole....
how awesome to see the kids still doing that.........that's one of my favourite childhood memories - having the wide open spaces of the desert as a playground. i remember i used to sometimes tag along behind my boet and his buddies (when they'd let me) to go catch snakes and scorpions. the one time we brought one home in a bottle (whip snake) and it got loose in the house - my mom freaked when she got home for lunch to hear there was a snake loose in her house - needless to say, she ate her lunch outside that day and left to go back to work with a warning that if that snake wasn't caught and out of the house by the time she got back from work, there'd be hell to pay. we eventually found it coiled up with the cord of our heater - maybe it thought it was a potential mate (being the same colour)...........when i tell people today that the desert was our playground, they look at me as though i'm touched............they cannot fathom the childhood we had. even after school when i was working up there, to clear my mind after a hectic day at work, i'd go for long walks in the desert.
We used to take our dogs for walks in the desert near the dumps. Our Alsation (I think we bout it from the Gerstners) was really mad. As soon as you'ld let him off the leash he'd go off like a rocket. Nighttime was great to. Stary nights and silence. Missing it till date...
found this pic - trying to judge by our ages, i'd say it was ± late 1968/1969. we used to go for a braai every sunday at the beach and this was taken at the yacht club - beach side.
That hill is still there... it is on the otherside of the pan, quite a few of the guys on Quad bikes ride it.....
glad to hear something from my childhood's survived - that's right, now i remember, it was also one of the favourites with the off road guys when they used to go biking in that area.
Delia, do remeber the den we used to have next to the Abattoirs where we all went to smoke, Julie still peed on a horn adders head out there. hahaha
I have buried in the desert behind the hydroponics farm a " treasure chest " one of those huge square tins with the round push in lid // think they used to pack tobacco in them ... contains a letter from me and some other items that i cannot remember . yes our imagination used to run riot while out there ... on the outskirts of the town somewhere near e 35 11th behind the trees there is a remnant of some or other piece of machinery .. we would play there .. make up story about this piece of machinery from the war that our fathers would not talk about .. in the pink crystal quarry as you entered town we would tunnel and I was constantly on the hunt for a german bunker that my imagination told me was there .. yes people may think we were crazy to be abe to entertain ourselves in the desert .. other funny memory was me walking out into the desert looking for the poles that held the blue sky up .. must have been 4 then .. what made the difference was our imaginations were fertile ..
my wife, one of our daughters and I were chatting about the desert Gobi. Had something to do with my daughters homework. Somebody just mention: Well there's nothing out there anyway. That#s where I intervened. The desert is so full of life and treasures you can only know if you've been there. Espescialy those of us, who spent their childhood in the desert. The ages in which your fantasy makes you look for things that do not exsist other than in your head. Then that's the point you start finding the things that exsist...
Only a fool would think that a desert was lifeless.....
@Sandy, your tunnels are still there and we pretended that the German bunker was on top of that hill as for some starnge reason there is a manhole type effort on top of it with metal rungs that went down the shaft..... as for your buried treasure, if there were any shiny stones in it, send me tha map and I'll... er! ...uhm...... get back 2 you!
Mike .. you got it the manhole ... it went to nowhere , I was convinced there were secret passages somewhere ........
there was ! There was! If youn knew which brick in the wall to push, the door would open, and then the tunnel went under the security fence and came out on top of the 4 plant mine dump...... and don't let anyone tell you that it did'nt
:emot26:
Unfortunately that only occured in my dream state .. real life could not get to the secret passages .. kept me very determined though .............
It's funny how it was always a German Spy or A German Fort or a German Tunnel..... we never did Japanese......?
Dont forget that Omund had large contingent expats a lot from britain with fresh memories of WW2 so thats where it all came from .. secondly SWA was at one time a german protectorate and was said to sympathise with Germany during ww2 .. best part was that Omund was this small society where all had to get on .. it taught people to forget .. onetime enemies created by politicians and power hungry men demonising the " enemy " became friends in this town of ours .. like said good memories of the Braais at the Siebers Home ...
If ever you saw the movie Hope and glory .. it had a wonderful scene where a german fighter pilot is downed over a borough in britain .. comes sailing down on his parachute .. lands in a vegetable patch .. all the folk from the area with pitchforks and spades and any other sort of weapon advance on this person who is supposed to have teeth and claws .. this poor pilot did not know what to do so he just sat down and lit himself a smoke .. the one old codger from the home guard then advanced slowly toward him .. saw he did not have teeth and claws , instead what he saw was just a shocked and very lucky to be alive human being like all around .. sort of gestured and gently led him off ... If you have not seen the movie then it is a MUST ...
Is that the movie with the little boy and his 2 sisters, he wants to join a kids gang that hangs out in the ruins, his father was away at war and the movie was set durin g the Blitz? I think it aired on DSTV about 10 months ago?
I saw this getting along effect, all the catholics and protestants were best mates out here, party, braai and sing songs, but for many of them, going bACK TO IRELAND, SCOTLAND THIS WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE....
Indeed so ! theres quite a few humorous scenes .. the one with the tin of jam is also a classic .. " they know we are crazy for Jam so this tin must be poisoned ' like said watch it again ...............
The other war movie that blew me away was "The Piano" , have you seen that one?
Not the one where he chops of one or both of her hands ?? Uuugh! correct me if wrong ..
War ... Survival under adverse circumstances .. Empire of the Sun .... that movie .. starts with the beautiful welsh lullaby Suo Gan and ends with the same .. beautiful .... can play that track over and over ...
Quote from: Michael Alexander on January 10, 2008, 02:33:40 PM
The other war movie that blew me away was "The Piano" , have you seen that one?
I tghink the Piano is a lovestory by Jane Camagnion?!?. Don't you mean The Pianoplayer or Pianist. A jewish piano player spending is time in a concentration camp?
Thats it Georg, you're right... The Pianist... I really enjoyed that movie....
Hi,
Pianist - brilliant true story of Roland Polanski during the second world war in Poland - very sad how one nation treated another?
May be that is why he is so screwed up :buffo1: today, but still a very good movie producer?
Cheers
Richard
Is that the same Roland Polanski?
The director/producer ... up for rape charges or murder or something?
sorry to butt in here but isn't that Roman Polanski? he was married to sharon tate (actress/model) when she was murdered (pregnant at the time) by Charles Manson & his "family" in '69?
thats what I thought, not Roland, but roman.... always like his movies....
Most people are still very aware of what happened in the 30s and 40s. But time heals wounds and it's fantastic seeing how people want to grow next to eacher and with each other.
I remember seeing movies and reports on tv with my late grandma. It was very hard for her.
She lost her husband, brothers ect. in WW1 and WW2. They never wanted the war, but had to fight (and die).
I think Schindlers List is probably one of the emotionly deepest movies to the topic nazi Germany.
Enough...
I used to enjoy reading all those Escape from Colditz books, exciting stuff...... funny spoof movie to watch with the germans is Top Secret.....
Tough subject. But yes, lots of tension and plenty of laughs posible.
The Great Dictator for eg Charles Chaplin to just name one of them
The desert had plenty snakes,horned adders and whip snakes and I used to collect Gemsbok droppings for our veggie garden at home and receive 5c from my dad
That was a lot of money for a kid in those days. And now it's sworth nothing. Do you still use 5c pieces?
watched the entire movie of the pianist the other night .. was just settling in for the night about 11pm , flicked the Tv on and here was the start of the movie , had seen snatches of it before ( dont do a lot of TV ) ended up watching the entire thing , got to sleep about 01:30 if i remeber .. yes a very sad movie about the mistakes of humanity , cruelty to to each other , hope , the will to survive , in his worst moments he would imagine he was playing the piano , that kept him going .. the humanity in the german officer who was obviously tired of being in a war he did not really want to be in , the common bond of music ... his words of " dont thank me , thank god , he wants us all to live "
... and funny enough, last night while channel surfing, I paused and watched the Odessa Files... also WWII movie..... fascinating stuff...
Hi Delia, I know what you mean about the desert being your playground. We lived in Oranjemund from 1958 - 1968 (with a one year stint in the UK during that time). I was ten when we left Oranjemund but my memories of playing in the desert are still with me today. We took it for granted at the time but when I think about what a special childhood we had in those days. When I tell people I was born in Namibia most of them look at me blankly 'cause they've never heard of it. When I mention further that I was born in a small diamond mining town that was not accessible by everyone they find it hard to believe. When I first moved to Australia the kids at school thought my Dad was a Zulu when they found out I was from SWA (as it was called in those days). Ah the fun I had telling them I had a lion as a pet and the small scar on my hand was in fact a monkey bite. Those were the days :) Cheers, Melanie Jonker
just for your info mike,ran polanski was a peadophile,left the usa before trail for rape of a 12yr old girl,
Wasn't she 17?
12 .. 17 ??? whats the diffs ... dont even know why it was bothered to bring it up , its common knowledge and was touched on earlier in this topic , what was supposed to be under discussion was the movie ..
I'm sure it makes a difference Sandy. Rumors can ruin people. Think of Woody Allen.
But then you're right. You were on about the movie itself. What I keep wondering, is how much mviesare still sencored nowadays in SA. Especially movies with a political backround like the Pianist or Schindlers List. I believe these stories get us to a poibt, where I have to ask myself how much of a fashist I am myself. Or how tolerent or human is my belief. ect. Sandy, that question goes toward you. I'm sure you have an opinion on that.
@ Georg Jnr We all have the potential to be fascist , me top of the list , once again its to be able to remember to always stop and ask the questions , is what I am doing or participating in right , good or fair ? to be able to have an opinion without being overly opiniated to be able to have belief without wanting to force it upon other people ? to be able to recognise evil .. there is a saying .. have not got the exact words but here goes ...
Evil does not present itself to you with teeth and claws bared .. instead it is insidious it creeps in slowly without one even realising it , we all have to remember that at each step of the way we as individuals have choice .... I need say no more .. see my posting on gangs and names ... I think it says a lot if one bothers to read into it ...............
I will add to that .. you are one of the few that questions .... I find at times a posting remains unanswered ,its almost as though people shy away from ahving a reasonable opinion .. I have seen this happen to quite a few of Mikes postings as welll when he expresses an opinion without going into race religion issues etc , more of a critical social comment begging for well thought out answers irrespective of grammar or context mistakes ... I mean ,, see my semi dyslexia with words like have .. it becomes ahve and if you read carefully you will pick these up ,, a case of the mind working faster than the fingers .. so thats one of my foibles ... and I generally leave them there as a trademark of me .. I take my posting on my semi abled painting appie that i am attempting to give a sense of worth while also getting odd jobs done .. contrasting to able bodied that refuse work that I would ordinarily do excepting that I have too much on my plate .. Sipho's story is long ... but it would appear I would be wasting my energy posting it .. lots of questions and answers there ..........
One of the things I like about Germany, is the opportunity of have free speach ect.
I know I can say my opinion anywhere I go. The only thing that might happen, is that somebody may be anoid. I don't mean hurt. I believe it is realy hard to be liberal and openminded. We are always in a conflict between our longing, interests and expectations and the way society (if in form of a person, family or what ever) wants and needs us. In this context we we struggle for individuality. Actualy far to much for a single person to cope with. It's human to make mistakes and do wrong. But it also human to look back to question and change things in my life. (for e.g. how fashist am I, what have I done in life to influence life in society ect.)
You're so right about Michael or other people trying to add to the site with politics ect. and not getting replies. I'm worried about 2 things:
1. I'm not sure how open I can be on this site??
2. It`s not that I'm worried about the spelling and grammar as such. I'm worried my grammar could be so bad# I'd be misunderstood.
@ Jnr .. thanks for the reply .. How open am I generally ?? How open is Mike generally ?? .. providing there is no hate speech just say your say .. at times you may have to try to choose words carefully if you think they might cause offence .. its the case of having an opinion without being overly opiniated etc etc ...
I may not reply to your posts Sandy but I do read them and enjoy them so don't cut back now.
Michael once mentioned to me in a mail, about putting things on the site and worying nobody would take notice. I'm sure there are so many out there (incognito) that prefer to read and not write. Sometimes it's nice just to "listen" what somebody says.
You can post what you want in here... I will not accept blatant racism (not just black and white) or any smut, porn etc.... and above all make sure you post it on the right board...... Just keep the Oranjemund Orientated stuff under Oranjemund Discussions...the rest under General Discussions....
The one thing that I too like in Namibia, is that we too enjoy a great token of freedom of speech...you cAn criticise the government if you want, just don't use hate speech... the Windhoek Advertiser is forever climbing into the government, the publish front page photo's of murdered people laying in a pool of blood, body parts etc.... quite often South African Visitors are astonished to see such visuals..... it just goes to show, for the time being you can enjoy your freedom of speech........
Quote from: georg ruf jr. on April 01, 2008, 01:46:19 PM
sure there are so many out there (incognito) that prefer to read and not write. Sometimes it's nice just to "listen" what somebody says.
Exactly, Boy Georg well put.
So correct Mike as I have said i have read some of your postings , there is no hate , racism etc just a balanced opinion or comment with possibly a sense of frustration at the way some people and society seem to be heading , eg the one story on the spar where policy inhibits your ability to hire the best for the job in the quest for better service which is after all what you are there for , and which is after all your bread and butter, a well run and profitable business ... I find myself in a state of frustration many times at some peoples lack of work , social or moral ethic but continue to plug away within my sphere of influence trying to get people to realise that they are capable of better .. its a case of if many chipped away at the seemingly huge rock that gets in our way we can eventually break it up and then its no longer in our way... easier said than done and requires perseverance patience resolve ,but as Mom and Dad always used to say " nothing ventured nothing gained "
Well no problem if the listeners are listening , eventually some of them might decide the time for listening is over and also decide to become active voices ... more chipping away at the rocks ...
and what a rock it is turning out to be........ swink
Okay guys. Suppose it's time to change my attitude on some topics. I'll still enjoy post my Cr**. But when it comes to the more serious topics I'll be posting my thoughts if I have an opinion.
Somehow it's a chalenge. Usualy people are telling me, I find words easely. Using a language I'm not so good in makes it hard. Have to think three times before I write anything.
bravo dont use smileys that much but here goes !!